Its been a while for me to scribble in this place. So thought might as well take a 180 degree turn from my topic and write a true story that i witnessed today morning. As like usual days, I take auto-rickshaw from my place to office,big thanks to my laziness and not to blame my company to keep flexi timings.
The daily fare from my home to office is some 70 odd figure. But to my notice I always end up paying more. Few days back, I paid some 20 bucks extra for the faulty meter that guy had or it was expected there.
What i witnessed today I wanted to let this out and basically ask some questions to you. Today, as always, i was late by 5 mins. A usual walk from my house to Omega Health care to board an auto from there.
[Omega Health Care]
Me :Outer Ring Road
Auto Rickshaw1 : 1.5 meter
Me: I commute daily and i pay on meter
Auto Rickshaw1: No, 1.5 final
[Moved to the next auto behind, the auto rickshaw driver looked a aged man and i asked him the same question.To my surprise, he agreed on first go... good from me till now].
[Near Junction 100 m away]
Driver: Sir, Pay me 20 rupees extra
Me: You are suppose to mention this to me right before I board it.
Driver: Sir, I understand, but there are problems in my family
Me (sternly): Everyone has problems. Everyone goes through the problems.
Driver: My Daughter is Ill.
I kept quite. He continued.
Driver: There is something to do with liver I guess. I am in such a condition right now that i dont even have 300 Rupees.
[I remembered as everyday i ended up paying more, I can manage this time as well and agreed to pay him 20 more.I opened my bag, reached for my music player to relax over the morning with some good music. ]
[At Old Airport's crossing - 6 Km from my destination]
[The Rickshaw guy looked back]
Driver: Sir, I was hired as a Driver in a family. It seems every bad things happen to me only.
[A thought rushed through my mind. This statement was not so strange to me after all.]
Driver(cont.): Today morning, I thought i could ask them for help. but to my surprise they have left for Delhi this morning. His Mother had a heart attack. Bad Times come to me only.
Sir please help me.
[I felt a bit uncomfortable as i have already been through this situation once and ended up loosing more than gaining, and trust was a major issue. Confused me as always.]
Me: I think everything will take its time to mend. Have Faith in god. He's there to help you.
[*The Turnaround (Again) ...4 Km from the destination]
Driver: Its just the matter of 300 Rupees. Sir, Please see if you could help.
[This time when he looked back he was broken. A tear had dropped off his eyes and..]
Driver(cont.): I gave all my strength to my wife at home and... i am 67 years old, i wish i could do something more... but now i dont have enough strength.
[Turned back]
[I had time to think. I had already done a mistake of helping a stranger. Should i give it another shot or should i stick to my experience and forget all this that ever existed.]
[Confused me took out my wallet and check the money that i had. Since its almost end of month and mostly, No saving I took out 174 Rupees]
Me: This is 174 Rupees. This is maximum i can do right now.
[By saying this i handed him the money 2 Km before the destination.]
Me(cont.): What's the name of your daughter?
Driver(Immidiate Answer): Razia, Razia Sultan. With love, we call her Razu.
[I felt good hearing her name. :)]
[At Destinaiton, I got out of the rickshaw and told him].
Me: Don't weak out. Have faith in god.
[He said 'thank you' in normal Indian tradition of 'Namaste'].
By saying this... I walked to my office...
His autorickshaw number was 3353. Which i could never forget.
------- End of Story---------
There are few questions which I want to ask you.
Question1: Was I right?
Question2: What would you have done?
Question3: What would have confused you?
Question4: Do you think this was true?
Question5: If your answer is yes, What would have been the ultimate barrier to cross?
Thanks for looking into it,
Piyush
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--By Bhagya--
ReplyDeletei think trusting the fellow was a good idea since "boys dont cry" {unless the daughter is really ill!} plus it was only 174/- and i think that the heart-broken soul needs to be educated abt the recession too... so really everyone is hving a bad time even if they dont have ailing daughters! btw why not "have faith in God! instead of "ON" him??!! P.S. sorry cudnt help mentioning the last. it was plastered on the blog too many times to ignore that! [wink]
I think you were right. I would have also done the same thing, and I will never be confused about it. Let me tell you an incident. N.I.T. Durgapur during 2nd semester exam, the last day of exam, got back from college, very tired, did a night out so it was hard to keep my eyes open. I already packed my luggage last night, and still have 15 minutes to catch the bus to station, so sitting on the hall 6 terrace and smoking a joint, then I saw an old distressed lady trying hard to climb the stairs, so i went to her and asked if she needs any help, she said "son, I work in a tailoring shop and earn just the amount of money so that I can feed myself twice a day,but now I am having problem in eyes so I need a specs otherwise I have to quit the job, I have 120 Rs I need 120 more to buy one can you please help me?" I really felt bad and I just had 120 Rs in my pocket and I need exact 110 Rs to reach home and 10 Rs for cigarette. I thought about it for a minute, and then I gave 120 Rs to her and stayed back for one more week alone in the whole campus, my dad sent me money and then i went home.
ReplyDeleteOne year has been passed, I totally forgot about the whole incident, during 4th semester, again last day of exam, exactly similar situation, I am smoking a joint on the terrace of hall 6, I saw that old lady trying hard to climb the stairs. The moment i saw her I recognized her and went to ask if she is doing good. But she couldn't recognize me and told me the same thing and asked for 120 Rs, and again I had only 120 Rs in my pocket. I was stunned for few minutes, I felt I have been betrayed my innocence and faith has been tampered by her.
But again I gave her 120 Rs
All I knew that although she lied, and took advantage of my kindness but she really needed the money and she is ashamed of begging, that's why she made up that story. I stayed in college for two more years and every year I gave her 120 Rs without any hesitation.
Now its up to you what you will extract from the incident, I hope I answered your question.
~Soumik
I wrote it in a hurry, and also simultaneous I finished automating one test case in iTest, so please pardon me for all grammatical and spelling mistakes. (wink)